Urban Work/Labour: The Politics and Ethics of the Changing Development Debate
ACSP/GPEIG Pre-organised session: CALL FOR PAPERS
To be submitted to the International Development Track
Session Organisers: Smita Srinivas and Francis Owusu,
Organised by the Global Planning Educators’ Interest Group (GPEIG)
Whatever happened to urban work and labour? Whether conceived as work, labour or employment, urbanization and changes in the global political economy have caused major upheavals in the everyday working realities of billions of people. Rapid urbanization has created tensions and opportunities for migratory and transient work of all forms, and blurring the urban vs. rural work distinctions. The insecurities and opportunities of urban work in most parts of the world have also been compounded by industrial and labour policies. In addition, the seductive linking of technologically innovative economies with ‘flexible’ work practice has meant that work and welfare regimes are increasingly intertwined across the globe whether through ‘high-tech’ urban plans or through highly insecure sub-contracted forms of manual work, and often both. The “sectoral” debates of urban life while helpful in focusing the debate-through housing, land-use, or transportation, for example, only partially capture the universal nature of the activity, or its gender, race or other dimensions. It is often challenging to capture the ways in which the development debate of the period may overwhelmingly structure the norms of what constitutes equitable work.
Papers can address (but are not limited to) the following topics: What are the politics and ethics of the changing development debate on urban work/labour? What are the contextual differences between work and labour that we perhaps should revisit? What elements/data sources/methods should we take as given from other disciplinary areas that engage with these topics? What advances have we seen in work/labour that show improvements in living and working conditions? Has there been a narrowing or broadening of the dialogue regarding types of work and benefits, minimum standards, global standards or other framing of issues? What is the role of international, grassroots/community organizations or other actors in influencing how we engage in these topics? Under what conditions can we in “development” fields define the boundaries of equitable work conditions in neighbourhoods, city-regions and countries? How should we as a professional group influence international debates about work, employment and labour?
Papers from established scholars, recent Ph.Ds and Ph.D. candidates are welcome as are both conceptual and empirical papers. Papers should address a specific aspect of work/labour in either so-called “developing” countries, or have a comparative approach to its analysis. 1-2 papers from “developed”/industrialized country contexts may also be included. Preference will be given to papers that address the links between the changing nature of urban work and shifts in what constitute ‘desirable” working conditions and benefits. Submissions in both “high” or “low” tech industries, contexts are welcome as are those that explicitly address the ways in which urban work is shaped by the politics and ethics of a development discourse that is most often taken as background to scholarship and practice.
This pre-organised session aims to contribute to the broader framing and discussion of politics and ethics in global planning education, research and practice, emerging from the mandate of the Global Planning Educators’ Interest Group (GPEIG). It will also serve to reinstate work/labour issues as an important ethical and political topic and lens to planning for ACSP to engage with. Depending on the nature of the proposed papers, there is a possibility that papers from the session will be included in an edited volume.
Queries/comments and abstracts should be sent to *both* Smita Srinivas at
, and Francis Owusu at .
To be considered for this session, please send a half-page abstract to to both organizers no later than midnight of Feb 16th.
Smita Srinivas, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Urban Planning
Director, Technological Change and Urban Social Policy Unit (TCUSP)
Columbia University
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
1172 Amsterdam Avenue MC 0340
New York, NY 10027 USA
Office: 303 Buell Hall
Tel: 212-854-4243, Fax: 212-864-0410,
Francis Owusu, Ph D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Community & Regional Planning
Iowa State University
Ames IA, 50011
Phone: (515) 294-7769
Fax: (515) 294-2348
E-mail:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~fowusu/homepage.html
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